Final evaluation : an analysis of an article which will require students to identify the topic of the article, its structure,

the authors position and the language used.

The article I have chosen for analysis appeared in The Oprah Magazine in May, 2004. I personally find this magazine very interesting, because it offers a lot of information regarding mostly the daily life, the articles sometimes being valuable keys to some of the problems we encounter everyday. Even though the article chosen is not so recent, the topic that it implies will never disappear: self-esteem and its positive and negative effects on every individual. The article can be integrated in the explanatory stories category, because it presents a physical process. The structure of the article is a normal one: 1. The lead is relatively long; it answers all the six questions: who self-esteem; what the prerequisite for happiness; when in almost all situations; where everywhere; why because it is something you cannot have too much of; how virtually every social problem can be traced to peoples lack of selflove. the lead catches the audiences attention.

2. Main point a lot of self-esteem is not always such a good thing; presenting a negative opinion about the topic determines the reader to read the whole article, in order to find out why is self-esteem sometimes harmful. 3. Other passages the whole article is very interesting, presenting useful ideas regarding the topic: > criminals/delinquents often regard themselves very highly; > one can succeed in life while thinking of himself that he is a lousy human being; > along with some celebrities, it is also reminded the Brussels griffon, a dog that is full of self-importance, an information that gives the article a touch of humour; > there is also presented the difference between a good, healthy sense of self-worth and what we used to call being conceited or stuck-up;

> the article ends with a sort of advice : not all self-praise is unwarranted. The authors position regarding the topic discussed is a balanced one. Patricia Marx tries to bring in front opinions belonging to specialists, like Nicolas Emler or the psychologist Roy Baumeister, in order to sustain her ideas with pertinent information. She believes that only real achievement deserves praise. The present article is a semi-formal one, taking into account the fact that Patricia Marx is addressing to the audience in a friendly way, trying to catch their attention by telling her own experiences regarding the topic discussed, but we can also observe a formal style, because the author inserted some information belonging to specialists. If we take a look at the language used in the article, we can observe that the author used some rhetorical questions throughout the whole text, like : > But who needs statistics?; >How much self-esteem is too much self-esteem, anyway? Normally, the rhetorical questions do not suppose answers. When a writer uses this type of questions, he or she is trying to catch the eye of the reader and to raise a problem. The reader does not give the author an answer to the question, but he indirectly finds a solution or an answer to that issue. The modal verbs do not appear among the verbs used, therefore the situation presented in the article is a real one; it is not just a possibility or a probability. If we talk about the lexical field, we can find synonyms of self-esteem, like: confidence, self-love, to regard oneself very highly, self-importance, ballooning ego, selfworth. By using so many synonyms, the author tries to emphasize the idea that she tries to bring in front, so that the audience would get the proper information. Patricia Marx tries to give as many definitions as it is possible within a short article, so that the readers understand exactly what she is trying to transmit, but also to develop new ways of understanding the topic. All in all, the article Can You Have Too Much Self-Esteem?, written by Patricia Marx in The Oprah Magazine, gathers a lot of useful information for the readers. Its structure is simple, but the use of language makes it complex.

Raluca Batori CDSAM, anul I